Two injured in tanker truck crash

March 24, 2009 6:57:37 AM PDT

Katie McCall

PASADENA, TX --

A tanker truck fire shut down part of the LaPorte Freeway for hours, causing a traffic nightmare for the morning commute.Police say a pickup slammed into the 18-wheeler which was parked on the shoulder of the highway in Pasadena around 11:30pm. The fuel tank on the cab caught fire. But the tanker's cargo of the chemical acetone was not affected.

A person standing near the 18-wheeler and the driver of the pickup went to the hospital with minor injuries.

The diesel tanks of the 18-wheeler ignited, but the reason for the long delay was that the acetone had to be transferred to another truck.

"The diesel tanks on the tractor-trailer did rupture. The diesel is what we saw burning," said Vance Mitchell with the Pasadena Police Department. "Apparently, the tanker itself never ruptured so there was no imminent danger at that point other than had it ruptured. It could have been much more severe."